Another case where you’re breaking ground with your candid on the street photos.

If she in a studio shot, she’d be forced to wear a wig.

Here she is with her real hair. Yes, women go bald too as they get older. She’s gone to a salon for styling for her appearance at this event and they’ve done a great job while still keeping her as she is.

I could be mistaken, but I’m almost certain that that’s Judith Peabody, who is the epitome of class and grace. She is incredibly elegant and is also a major philanthropist. I met her years ago when I was volunteering at GMHC. (Sorry the excerpt below is so long, I think she’s pretty damn fascinating.)

From NY Social Diary:Judy Peabody is a fascinating New York figure. At night you might see her and her husband Sam at theatre, opera and ballet openings, both elegantly turned out – she in couture and brilliant jewels, and he in well tailored dark suit or black tie – the perfect picture of late 20th-century cosmopolitan sophistication…

[She] is a longtime member of the New York social glitterati and supporter of cultural and philanthropic causes. However, beyond the routine (and demanding) fundraising and organizing roles that these causes require, Mrs. Peabody long ago took another path and a bigger personal step in the process. For the past two decades she has been a deeply devoted, hands-on volunteer to AIDS patients. Her day-to-day work as therapist assisting victims of the dread disease has had an almost saintly impact on the lives of countless individuals and families.

Why does gray have to be equated with age? They are beautiful as their spirit radiates from their life experiences–which we devalue in this country. We look at age through the prism of a pervasive youth culture. And, therefore, we see age as decay, not as growing in wisdom, experience, grace, and style.